From a photograph by Solomon D. Butcher of four daughters of rancher Joseph M. Chrisman, at their sod house in Custer County, Nebraska. From left to right, Harriet, Elizabeth, Lucie, and Ruth. Photographed in 1886.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Sure Sign of Spring

It's daffodil time in Kentucky

Spring beauties glowing in bright sunlight

Floridata's daffodil page says that common names for Narcissus spp. include daffodil, narcissus, jonquil, Lent lily, Easter flower, and butter-cup. In fact, there are so many different sorts of Narcissus that botanists divide them into 13 different categories.

To me, light-colored daffodils (like those in the photo) are "jonquils." I have no scientific reason for giving them that name. It's just my way of distinguishing them from the yellow-blooming ones which I call "daffodils."

Here in Kentucky, many people refer to the little old-time yellow daffodils as "buttercups." In early spring, buttercups pop up and bloom in many places where the houses have been gone for untold years. They're a memorial to gardeners whom we never knew.

6 comments:

My dad and I try to sort out the names, "jonquil", "daffodil", and "narcissus" nearly every spring because we can never remember the distinctions for all those months. To us, a "buttercup" is not related to the daffodil family. "Buttercup" is a small simple orange-yellow flower with round petals on a short, skinny stem. It resembles a strawberry blossom.

Actually, it gives me a guilty conscience to use the name "buttercup" for a daffodil because that name already belongs to a little Nebraska wildflower in my mind -- perhaps the same one you're talking about. I would know it if I saw it. :)

In the woods behind our house in Falls Church, VA a patch of flowers came up every spring near a mimosa tree. None of these plants were native to the area. While digging in that area one year, my dad and I came upon what looked like blocks remaining from an old foundation. Your post about flowers coming up where old homes had stood reminded me of that discovery. I used to wonder what happened to the family that had lived there perhaps a hundred years or more in the past. Thank you for your thought-provoking posts.

IT IS STILL BEST to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasure; and to be cheerful and have courage when things go wrong.(Laura Ingalls Wilder, 1867-1957)